Canadian foreign affairs minister Anita Anand says it is her „understanding“ that Iranian soccer officials were denied entry into her country ahead of the FIFA Congress meeting in Vancouver just weeks before the start of the World Cup.
Anand on Wednesday (Thursday AEST) appeared to confirm a report from Tasnim, an Iranian news agency associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, but said the denial was „unintentional“.
Tasnim reported that Iranian Football Federation president Mehdi Taj and two other officials were denied entry due to „inappropriate behaviour of immigration officials“ at Toronto’s Pearson Airport.
„It’s not my personal lead, but my understanding is that there is a revocation of the permission. It was unintentional, but I’ll leave it to the minister to indicate,“ Anand said, apparently referring to Immigration Minister Lena Diab.
The online news outlet Iran International first reported that Taj had been granted a visa on Monday and had been removed from Canada late on Tuesday evening because of his connections to the IRGC, a listed terrorist entity in Canada.
An emailed response from Diab’s office said all visa applications are reviewed on a case-by-case basis by trained officials.
„While we cannot comment on individual cases due to privacy laws, the government has been clear and consistent: IRGC officials are inadmissible to Canada and have no place in our country,“ said Taous Ait, Diab’s press secretary.
The FIFA Congress gathering comes weeks before the start of a World Cup co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico. Representatives from each of the 211 federations in soccer’s governing body were expected to attend the event, which begins on Thursday (local time).
FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Iran’s status for the event.
